The azure crystal wasn't just a mere container for the rich energy found within it. No, the azure crystal itself was a crystallization of the energy condensed together.
In other words, the azure crystal was pure energy.
Furthermore, Vaan discovered this pure energy could be manipulated by men, unlike mana. Simply by holding the azure crystal, he could extract its energy with a thought.
At first, control of the energy seemed weak and limited. But once it flowed inside and cycled through Vaan's body, it became increasingly easier to manipulate over time.
In essence, the level of control was directly related to the level of energy refining.
Nevertheless, the most important discovery wasn't the ability to control this energy but the potential benefits it granted to life.
Vaan had subconsciously cycled the unknown energy through his body according to his Heavenly Formless Dragon Art.
It was only a single cycle, but he had already reaped countless benefits.
The unknown energy didn't just increase his lifespan, but it also strengthened his body and increased his aura. It was much more effective than mana.
That said, mana wasn't necessarily inferior to this unknown energy. They simply had different strong points.
For example, mana could be transformed into virtually anything one could imagine if one was capable enough. As such, mana had a diverse range of magic applications.
On the other hand, the unknown energy Vaan obtained was more specialized. It focused on the evolution of life.
Nevertheless, from what Vaan could see, this unknown energy could also be used to create magic. After all, it was something akin to a mixture of vitality and mana.
Even so, the process of creating magic with it would definitely be more costly and complicated than mana.
It was inefficient.
'If I had obtained this unknown energy earlier, I wouldn't have needed to use up so many stones to reach Peak-stage Aura Lord,' Vaan thought.
Fortunately, he had upgraded his Way of the Formless Dragon to the Heavenly Formless Dragon Art during his battle with Emperor Renardier.
Now that he had this unknown energy, advancing to the Aura King rank would definitely be smoother and quicker.
Unexpectedly, he had picked some precious cultivation resources.
No, that wasn't quite accurate.
It should be said that the precious cultivation resources fell into his lap. He was just at the right place and at the right time. As such, he pocketed most of the precious resources.
Nevertheless, the rest of the asteroids that fell to Pangea most likely contained the same unknown energy within them.
Vaan didn't doubt that there would soon be an uproar over the unknown energy.
After all, he had realized the importance of the unknown energy for aura cultivation. Unless the other aura users were stupid, they would also recognize it as well.
'It's too late to chase after those fallen asteroids now, not to mention there's no need for me to do so,' Vaan thought as he directed his gaze toward the asteroid field.
Chasing after the asteroids that fell to Pangea would be like ignoring the big cake and chasing after the crumbs.
Vaan hoped the asteroid field would be full of azure crystal energy.
Nevertheless, he found it strange that there were so many asteroids in the Pangea system and that such asteroids would also contain such miraculous energy within them.
Where did such miraculous energy come from? Why were they found within the asteroids? Why didn't Pangea have such energy?
As Vaan pondered over these questions, he played with a strand of azure energy he had refined. The strand of azure energy skillfully wiggled around his fingertips exactly the way he wanted.
'What a peculiar energy you are,' Vaan thought with a frown.
It was his first time coming across such a unique energy. As such, it was definitely unfamiliar. And yet, he couldn't help but get a familiar and natural feeling from it.
Perhaps, it was natural for such energy to exist alongside life. But for some reason, Pangea was stripped from any of it?
Vaan couldn't help but think in this direction.
In that case, the enormous field of asteroids in the Pangea system… Could it be the remnants of shattered planets where life used to exist on a much larger scale than Pangea?
And if it was, what kind of force reduced it to such a state?
Whatever happened, it certainly wasn't a small event.
That's for sure.
'Speculating won't get me answers, and the asteroid field is too far to investigate for now. It's also unknown what other dangers await me there. I should become stronger before I even consider it an option,' Vaan thought.
With his current abilities, he was simply incapable of investigating the asteroid field quickly.
After all, just because he could see the asteroid field in the Pangea system, it didn't mean he could reach it.
An astronomical distance existed between them.
If he stocked up enough air and food, he could certainly reach the asteroid field and research the origins of the azure energy with due time.
However, that was the exact problem – time.
Traveling to the asteroid field and back would take far too long. It was hard to predict what could happen in Pangea during this period.
If his people faced danger during his absence, he would be helpless to save them.
'It's unfortunate, but I will have to find another way to learn more about this mysterious azure energy,' Vaan lamented.
The system did not have any information on the azure energy.
If it knew what the azure energy was, it would have already notified him when he refined a strand of it in his body.
The system wasn't all-knowing, as far as he understood.
Since the system originated from Chaos, expecting it to have all information on his chaosverse would be too much.
But at the same time, the azure energy seemed like a fundamental energy of the universe and should have also existed in the previous chaosverses that entered Chaos in the past chaos cycles.
As such, Vaan couldn't really explain why the system lacked the information.
He could only assume the information was missing because the system was either incomplete or damaged.
'For now, l should advance to the Aura King rank,' Vaan decided.
After that, he intended to meet up with Henrietta again. He had a feeling she would know something about the azure energy.
Even if she didn't, the person behind her most likely would.
…
Shortly after Vaan tightened his grip on the boulder-sized asteroid, he immediately extracted all its azure energy in an instant.
However, the amount of azure energy was so tremendous that he had to temporarily store it inside his Heaven-Swallowing Space.
If he didn't, he would have suffered a severe backlash from the overflowing azure energy course through his veins.
Nevertheless, once the azure energy was extracted, Vaan began running the Heavenly Formless Dragon Art.
Ding!
<You have absorbed a large amount of unknown energy>
<Your body is being strengthened by the unknown energy>
<Your lifespan has increased by 150 years>
<Your aura power has increased by 200 units>
…
Ding!
<Your aura power has surpassed a bottleneck>
<Your aura cultivation has advanced to the next rank>
<Peak-stage Aura Lord à Early-stage Aura King>
Vaan continued receiving a string of notifications from the system until his aura power crossed the threshold and entered the ranks of Aura King.
However, his aura power did not stop there.
It kept rising.
The azure crystal inside the boulder-sized asteroid was only the size of a full-grown carrot, but the energy found within it was heavily concentrated and dense – far more than even the mana found inside supreme-rank mana stones.
The two could not be compared at all.
As the leftover azure energy
Ding!
<Your body is being strengthened by the unknown energy>
<Your lifespan has increased by 20 years>
<Your aura power has increased by 100 units>
…
Ding!
<Your body is being strengthened by the unknown energy>
<Your lifespan has increased by 10 years>
<Your aura power has increased by 50 units>
…
Vaan's aura cultivation continued to advance as he drew out the azure energy from his Heaven-Swallowing Space in a steady stream.
He didn't intend to stop until he reached a bottleneck or the azure energy from the carrot-sized azure crystal was exhausted.
Ding!
<You have completely refined all of the unknown energy>
<Your aura power has greatly improved>
<Aura power: 1250 à 1705>
<Your aura cultivation has reached the next threshold>
<Early-stage Aura King à Mid-stage Aura King>
…
Only after Vaan advanced a little past the threshold of Mid-stage Aura King did he finally exhaust all the azure energy he extracted from the carrot-sized azure crystal.
"Fuu…"
Vaan exhaled a long breath of foul air as he reopened his eyes and inspected the significant changes in his body. He should have been happy with his great progress during the inspection.
However, the first thing he did was frown.
The cultivation of his fleshly body was not the same as his soul. It wasn't something that could be rapidly improved without consequences.
Cultivation was supposed to be a gradual process in order to give the body time to adapt to the changes.
The mortal body had its limitations.
However, Vaan was able to avoid these limitations and make rapid improvements until now because he possessed a Divine-rank bloodline and a powerful physique.
'My aura cultivation grew too quickly. The dragon aura has become too strong, putting a slight strain on my veins and meridians…' Vaan analyzed.
The slight strain wasn't a problem, thanks to his power Celestial Dragonwolf Physique.
If he wanted, he could keep pushing to Peak-stage Aura King before the strain on his veins and meridians became a problem.
However, there was no need to punish himself like that.
Given the great potential of his body, it wouldn't take that long for it to adapt to his current aura cultivation.
'It seems I shouldn't delay my visit to the Great Ratholos Empire... Once I settled everything in the Black Rose Kingdom and Holy Knight Empire, I should make the trip immediately,' Vaan thought.
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